Gamification's march to ubiquity

The migration from top down broadcast communications to more human, interactive model of communications has made gaming mechanics all the more relevant says Zaid Al-Zaidy. Photograph: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Play is the most human of behaviours. It's how we begin to learn and develop. There's nothing quite like the kick we get from mastering a new skill, developing our autonomy or getting recognition for our successes.

These addictive qualities can be equally found in back-yard hopscotch to the fantastical online realm of World of Warcraft. The ultimate human feedback loop, gaming has always been a huge part of culture. As TED speaker and game designer and academic Jesse Schell puts it, "All of life is a series of games".

Technically defined as "using game design mechanics to influence people out of game contexts", "Gamification" is today's hippest marketing buzzword.

It isn't anything new. In simple terms, it's about leveraging the principles of play to make new and existing behaviours fun and "sticky" (that bizarre sensation of, "I couldn't stop, even if I wanted to"). Mary Poppins had it in one: "there's an element of fun to every job that must be done and if you find the fun, then snap! The job's a game".

So where did all this come from you ask? Until recently gaming or identifying yourself openly as being a "gamer" used to get a bad rap outside of the hardcore. Once the sole preserve of nerds with the "PlayStation tan", technology has catapulted games beyond the console and into the paws and pockets of the masses. Angry Birds, Farmville or Words with Friends anyone?

We're all gamers now. While some people are cagey about owning up to their gaming habit, industry sources now locate the UK's gaming population as representing close to 75% of the population in one form of another. As a veritable national pastime, this represents a massive opportunity for brands to weave a deeper, darker web of engagement with their audiences.

In a world where attention spans are increasingly addled and schizophrenic, many brands have already learned attention can't be bought with a talking animal TV spot anymore. As we continue to migrate from a top down dictator style broadcast model of communications to a more human, interactive model, gaming offers brands a new gambit.

Nissan and PlayStation's epic collaboration, GT Academy hints towards the exciting possibilities of this new world. Things can get both surreal and cool when we blend the virtual and the real. Leveraging the Gran Turismo platform, Nissan created a competition amongst 25,000 racers online to compete for the chance to race the GT4, circuit for real. A notoriously impenetrable sport, suddenly, gaming has opened up a democratic space for aspiring racers everywhere to dare to dream. Perhaps most fascinating was the game's ability to reveal a winner whose gaming skills reflected his actual racing aptitude. MBA student Lucas Ordonez emerged as the series winner and a year on is now a career racer in the GT4 circuit.

Although already the preserve of many marketing campaigns, gamification is still very much in its early days. Where it can fail, is when it is faddish and unable to sustain interest. Early forays into the area saw brands trying to lure people in by awarding them shiny points and badges (much like when you were at primary school). However, the dubious success and outlook for platforms like Foursquare suggests that this is too thin and isn't enough to keep us hooked. I've boasted about where I hung out, what I ate and have become a virtual Mayor for a day, now what? On the other hand, there are notable successes, such as our competitive drive to share our faster run (Nike+) and acknowledgement we feel when someone 'likes' our 'earlybird' rendered photo on Instagram.

The challenge lies in leveraging the right hooks rooted in play but keeping their design relevant to core human motivations. Does it give me autonomy, mastery, tangible feedback, perhaps some swag and ultimately some status?

Playcall, call centre software by Chilean startup Arcaris, hints at how this can be achieved. Considered one of the toughest jobs on earth, Arcaris has shown that gamification can transform something as mind numbing and spirit crushing as cold-calling into something fun, addictive and ultimately more productive.

While Playcall uses typical game mechanics like points, leader boards, badges and challenges, crucially it celebrates employee success in a human way. Playcall feedback, awards, compliments and progress are unlocked by your manager and delivered in person. This ensures that whoever's ranked #351 on the floor out of 800 feels as recognised when they put in a stellar day at the office as the guy who's ranked 9th.

While sales and marketing is currently ahead of the curve in exploiting play, it won't be the only industry to go big on gaming. Fold-it is but one of many examples of co-creation platforms which use game dynamics for good.

Gamers compete to design new proteins for treating diseases like AIDS, Alzheimers and Cancer, earning points and status based on their ability to problem solve. Using the collective power of the community, gamers competed against one another to configure the structure of a retrovirus enzyme related to HIV. Their break through configuration was completed in mere weeks, yet the puzzle had stumped scientists for years.

These are but a smattering of examples and this is merely the beginning, especially for companies who crave intimate knowledge of who we are and what motivates us. As brand touch points increasingly become gaming touchpoints — think everything from your Oyster card swipes (Chromorama), to what you ate for lunch, to the exercise you did (or didn't) do today – you can be sure that the data capturing nets will be cast and companies will begin to paint a finely nuanced portrait of who you are.

Welcome to the next level of bleeding edge insight. Behavioural insights gleaned from this new wealth of gaming interactions will be perversely rich and granular, giving us an unparalleled window into the darkest secrets of the consumer psyche. Predictions modelled on these behaviours will begin to illustrate a rich, real time picture of hidden needs and desires, empowering brands with an arsenal of insights far beyond their original context. Can't get past level three again? Perhaps this erratic behaviour is symptomatic of some deeper, repressed frustrations. Pop! A one off offer to join Match.com for three months at a 50% reduced fee. It's not inconceivable.

Gamification has now joined the illustrious ranks of fundamental design principles; informing our work, education, product design, government nudge-style behaviour change and beyond. With big data, big budgets and big brother sitting in the cloud, joining the dots in our everyday, gamification is set to fade into ubiquity influencing our every move in life.

Like the kids who've never known an analogue life before digital, gamification is fated to permeate all culture as we know it. Watch out for the invisible game as it blurs realities, agendas and spaces way beyond the cliché of the console.

Zaid Al-Zaidy is chief strategy officer at TBWA London, you can follow him on Twitter @zaidalzaidy.

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